Dai Nippon Printing Co., Ltd. (DNP) is pleased to announce the June 14 publication of the Future of Regional Japan Created Through Sports – a Comic Book, from Shufunotomo Co., Ltd., under the planning and supervision of the Japan Sports Agency. Published in two volumes covering eastern and western Japan, the publication takes a comic book format that makes for an easy read of the 12 real life stories of how "Japan's regions got their mojo back," through sports-driven regional rejuvenation. The publication will be promoted through group companies by Maruzen CHI Holdings. Co., Ltd. (Maruzen CHI), a DNP Group Company.

[Background]

The Japan Sports Agency positions sports as a materially important industry, and is promoting the rejuvenation of regional economies through the strategic combination of sports with regional resources. At the same time, a shortage of leaders, information and ideas to promote regional rejuvenation has become a challenge.
DNP links the publishing and editing capacities of publishing companies with the regional contents, and is engaged in the business of regional rejuvenation. In this latest development, and in response to regional challenges, DNP has introduced 12 cases of successful regional rejuvenation through sports, selected from throughout Japan, in a comic book format under the planning and supervision of the Agency, to be marketed at bookstores nationwide. The comic book will also be sold through the honto website.
Maruzen CHI supports regional rejuvenation through sports, including the marketing to public libraries through TRC Library Service Inc.(TRC). In conjunction with this publication, the comic book will be promoted via digital signage installed at 20 outlets of Maruzen and Junkudo Bookstores Co.,Ltd, a group company of Maruzen CHI, and in honto+, the official magazine of the honto website that will be distributed at the stores.
DNP and Maruzen CHI will implement promotion on a scale never seen before for government agency publications, and will support sports-driven regional rejuvenation.

[Comic Book Summary]

Title and ISBN: The Future of Regional Japan Created Through Sports – A Comic Book ISBN978-4-07-425952-6

List Price: 5,000 yen plus tax. Published in two volume set, with the option of purchasing either volume separately.

Specification: 368 pages per volume in a 210mm×148mm size.

Contents: 12 cases of successful regional rejuvenation through sports, in an easy to understand comic book format. Each case has been drawn with the cooperation of local college or vocational school students, capitalizing on the communicative capacities of the comic book format.
Japanese version only

Examples:

Soccer helps Nagano get its Mojo back! Matsumoto City, Nagano, the central part of Japan

Matsumoto Yamaga FC boasts one of the leading attendance records in the J-League, with their stadium appearing to be dyed in the green of the team shirts as both young and older supporters flock to home games.
This case study relates the miracle of Nagano, including numerous hardships before the team was established, in what was otherwise known as a soccer desert.

Numerous tourists and cyclists from both Japan and overseas visit the Shimanami Kaido, a 60-kilometer road-and-bridge network connecting Honshu with Shikoku, and featuring cycle and pedestrian lanes throughout. The trigger for the network was CYCLING Shimanami 2016, an international cycling event, and the case study tells the story of the efforts of, the otherwise inexperienced, regional civil servants who were tasked with arranging the event.

[Looking Ahead]

In addition to putting efforts into sports-driven rejuvenation, by planning and publishing the comic book sequel, DNP will also expand connections with regions maintaining sports-related tourism resources, and will support the mining and dissemination of the charm of such areas.
At the same time, DNP will promote the rejuvenation of regional economies through such activities as, tie ups with the publishers and our client companies, to make regional branding proposals based on regional tourism resources, characters, and other contents, event planning and the development of original products.